Composer interface for providing content to a social network

Abstract

A composer interface provided by a social networking system allows a user to provide input, such as text data, to the social networking system. The composer interface allows the user to identify an action and/or an object related to the input. An action is structured data describing a relationship between objects defined by the social networking system. Based on the action identified as related to the input, the social networking system stores an association between the received input and the identified action.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 storing, by a social networking system, a plurality of locations and a plurality of actions; 
 receiving, in a composer user interface, new content input by a user of the plurality users of the social networking system for posting to the social networking system; 
 selecting candidate locations from the plurality of locations based on the new content input by the user, wherein selecting the candidate locations comprises:
 selecting a group of locations from the plurality of locations, the locations in the group matching at least a portion of the new content input by the user, 
 ranking the locations in the group based on data associated with the user, and 
 selecting the candidate locations based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 selecting candidate actions from the plurality of actions based on the new content input by the user, wherein selecting the candidate actions comprises:
 selecting a group of actions from the plurality of actions, the actions in the group matching at least a portion of the new content, 
 ranking the actions in the group based on the data associated with the user, and 
 selecting the candidate actions based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 providing, in the composer user interface, options for the user to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate actions; 
 receiving, from the user, a request to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate actions through the options; 
 in response to the received request, providing, in the composer user interface, a plurality of the candidate locations and a plurality of the candidate actions for display to the user for the user to select a candidate location and a candidate action; 
 receiving a selection of a candidate location and a selection of a candidate action from the user; 
 adding the selected candidate location and the selected candidate action to the new content input by the user for posting to the social networking system; and 
 storing in the social networking system an association between the new content, a user identifier associated with the user, the selected candidate location, and the selected candidate action. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data associated with the user by the social networking system is selected from a group consisting of: actions performed by other users connected to the user, affinities between the user and other users or objects, actions previously performed by the user, interests associated with the user, a frequency of interaction between the user and other users, affinities by users connected to the user for objects, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting candidate actions from the plurality of actions based on the new content input by the user further comprises:
 determining a location associated with the user; and 
 selecting the candidate actions based at least in part on the new content by the user and the location associated with the user. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein selecting the candidate actions based at least in part on the new content by the user and the location associated with the user further comprises:
 ranking the plurality of actions stored by the social networking system based on the location associated with the user; and 
 selecting the candidate actions based at least in part on the ranking. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting, by the social networking system, the new content to one or more additional users of the social networking system connected to the user. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting candidate actions from the plurality of actions comprises:
 selecting the candidate actions from the plurality of actions based on the selection of the candidate location received from the user such that different candidate actions are selected depending on the candidate locations selected. 
 
     
     
       7. A method comprising:
 storing, by a social networking system, a plurality of locations and a plurality of objects; 
 receiving, in a composer user interface, new content input by a user of the social networking system for distribution by the social networking system to other users of the social networking system; 
 selecting candidate locations from the plurality of locations based on the new content input by the user, wherein selecting the candidate locations comprises:
 selecting a group of locations from the plurality of locations, the locations in the group matching at least a portion of the new content input by the user, 
 ranking the locations in the group based on data associated with the user, and 
 selecting the candidate locations based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 selecting candidate objects from the plurality of objects based on the new content input by the user, wherein selecting the candidate objects comprises:
 selecting a group of objects from the plurality of objects, the objects in the group matching at least a portion of the new content input by the user, 
 ranking the objects in the group based on the data associated with the user by the social networking system, and 
 selecting the candidate objects based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 providing, in the composer user interface, options for the user to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate objects; 
 receiving, from the user, a request to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate objects through the options; 
 in response to the received request, providing, in the composer user interface, a plurality of the candidate locations and a plurality of the candidate objects for display to the user for the user to select a candidate location and a candidate object; 
 receiving a selection of a candidate location and a selection of a candidate object from the user; 
 adding the selected candidate location and the selected candidate object to the new content input by the user for distribution by the social networking system; and 
 storing, in the social networking system, an association between the new content, a user identifier associated with the user, the selected candidate location, and the selected candidate object. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the data associated with the user by the social networking system is selected from a group consisting of: actions performed by other users connected to the user, affinities between the user and other users or objects, actions previously performed by the user, interests associated with the user, a frequency of interaction between the user and other users, affinities by users connected to the user for objects, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , selecting candidate locations from the plurality of locations based on the new content input by the user further comprises:
 determining a location associated with the user; and 
 selecting the candidate locations based at least in part on the new content input by the user and the location associated with the user. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 7 , wherein selecting candidate objects form the plurality of objects based on the new content input by the user further comprises:
 determining a location associated with the user; and 
 selecting the candidate objects based at least in part on the new content input by the user and the location associated with the user. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 presenting, by the social networking system, the new content to one or more additional users of the social networking system connected to the user. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , wherein selecting candidate objects from the plurality of objects comprises:
 selecting the candidate objects from the plurality of objects based on the selection of the candidate location received from the user such that different candidate objects are selected depending on the candidate locations selected. 
 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable computer program instructions, the computer program instructions comprising instructions that when executed cause a computer processor to:
 store, by a social networking system, a plurality of locations and a plurality of actions; 
 receive, in a composer user interface, new content input by a user of the plurality users of the social networking system for posting to the social networking system; 
 select candidate locations from the plurality of locations based on the new content input by the user, wherein the computer program instructions for selecting the candidate locations comprise instructions that when executed cause the computer processor to:
 select a group of locations from the plurality of locations, the locations in the group matching at least a portion of the new content input by the user, 
 rank the locations in the group based on data associated with the user, and 
 select the candidate locations based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 select candidate actions from the plurality of actions based on the new content input by the user, wherein the computer program instructions for selecting the candidate actions comprise instructions that when executed cause the computer processor to:
 selecting a group of actions from the plurality of actions, the actions in the group matching at least a portion of the new content, 
 ranking the actions in the group based on the data associated with the user, and 
 selecting the candidate actions based at least in part on the ranking; 
 
 provide, in the composer user interface, options for the user to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate actions; 
 receive, from the user, a request to access at least some of the candidate locations and at least some of the candidate actions through the options; 
 in response to the received request, provide, in the composer user interface, a plurality of the candidate locations and a plurality of the candidate actions for display to the user for the user to select a candidate location and a candidate action; 
 receive a selection of a candidate location and a selection of a candidate action from the user; 
 add the selected candidate location and the selected candidate action to the new content input by the user for posting to the social networking system; and 
 store in the social networking system an association between the new content, a user identifier associated with the user, the selected candidate location, and the selected candidate action. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the computer program instructions for selecting candidate actions from the plurality of actions based on the new content input by the user further comprise instructions that when executed cause the computer processor to:
 determine a location associated with the user; and 
 select the candidate actions based at least in part on the new content by the user and the location associated with the user.